Noche Buena Series No. 2
Noche Buena is one of my favorite holidays because I have such fond memories of it growing up. When I was younger, it’s relevance was tied to the excitement around opening gifts and all the Catholic “duties” leading up to that probably fueled the anticipation. I remember the preparation that our household would be in — making food, ensuring we’ve covered all the gifts for family members, decorating the house — it seemed exhausting. It wasn’t always so fun because my mom would typically be stressed out, worrying, cooking up a storm to make sure it was perfect. I am sure many of you can relate.
For Noche Buena, we’d have extended family members come over for dinner with the centerpiece often being surf and turf — Roasted Prime Rib and Roasted Garlic Crab with Garlic Noodles (adapted from one of our favorite San Francisco restaurants since the 80’s, Thanh Long). After dinner, we would all head out to Midnight Mass (a very long and tedious affair) and then come back to the house, open gifts and eat some of my favorite snacks like Jamon, Queso de Bola, Baked Macaroni, Russian Salad, Pandesal, Embutido and my favorite — Tsokolate.
A favorite memory from my teenage years was when my sister and I would pretend to go to mass (I drove separately in my car), then come back and have the house to ourselves. We would use this quiet time to wrap gifts we had for our family because we procrastinated and also get a head start on snacking. At the time, we thought we were being sneaky but I am sure our parents knew what we were up to.
As I got older and moved away, living in different cities for work, there were times we could not make it home to the Bay Area. My partner, Brandon, and I had to make our own traditions. There were times when we traveled, or had friends over and we celebrated by going out to dinner and out to our favorite bar. However, during the last few years, we have both pulled heavily from our childhood food memories. I would make some dishes from my Filipino childhood and Brandon would make tamales he learned how to make from his Mexican grandmother. We’d have our favorites which helped when we were away from home last year.
Over the next week, I am going to share some of my family recipes that I’ve had to learn how to make. Hope you find some inspiration for your own Noche Buena.
❤️Tricia
